Safety cap for bottles



Feb. 18, 1969 'r. M. A. BOYS SAFETY CAP FOR BOTTLES Filed Dec. 20, 1966 United States Patent 3,428,201 SAFETY CAP FOR BOTTLES Thomas M. A. Boys, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia, assignor to Leonard William George Grove-Jones and Kathleen Lucy Grove-Jones Filed Dec. 20, 1966, Ser. No. 603,185 Claims priority, application Australia, Dec. 22, 1965, 68,204/ 65 US. Cl. 215-9 3 Claims Int. Cl. B65d 55/08 This invention relates to a safety cap for bottles and in particular it relates to a cap which has been designed for the purpose of preventing accidental opening of bottles, such as medicine bottles, by children.

One of the great hazards to which children are at present subjected is the risk that they may find a bottle of medicine or medicinal tablets or poisons or the like and on unscrewing the top they can swallow the content.

Many of the tablets are actually of quite a pleasant taste and this of course increases the danger where a child can obtain access to a bottle of tablets or the like.

According to an earlier invention of mine which forms the subject of patent application No. 55,393, dated Feb. 19, 1965, a protective sleeve is used over the cap which makes it necessary for a child to perform two functions at the same time, this giving the necessary safety measures not otherwise obtainable, for it will be realised that to simply provide some form of locking means or some arrangement under which greater force would be needed to unscrew, that still does not give the necessary safety because a child is likely to persevere in any attempts to open a bottle, but where it is possible to keep screwing a cap without the cap being removed, a much greater safety factor is present because a child is not likely to be able to work out why the normal function of screwing the top does not remove it.

In the earlier invention the outer sleeve which is normally free to revolve on the bottle sealing cap, does not have an unscrewing action until a second motion is introduced such as an axial movement of the sleeve or a pressure applied to some part of the sleeve, this additional movement or pressure causing means to interengage to give a positive drive between the sleeve and the cap to allow the inner cap to be rotated with the outer sleeve.

Suitable detents were envisaged which meant that either the sleeve had to be lifted or depressed or squeezed to have these detent members interengage with members on the cap, and the object of this invention is to still further simplify the mechanism but at the same time retaining the safety features of requiring a double action to effect the unscrewing of the cap.

According to this invention the object is achieved by simply utilising friction means between the cap and a sleeve which on reaching the necessary pressure will cause the cap to move with the sleeve.

The advantages of this arrangement are principally that a cap of normal construction can be used and therefore the invention can be fitted to an existing bottle or bottle top without having to modify the present cap, the invention simply comprising a sleeve which fits over the cap but has axial movement on the cap, but a resilient member is interposed between the top of the cap and the underside of the top of the sleeve which normally allows the sleeve to rotate freely on the cap but when the resilient member is compressed or has the necessary downward force applied to it, a friction drive will exist between the sleeve and the cap which will cause the cap to move with the sleeve.

In order however that the nature of the invention may be fully understood an embodiment thereof will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. I is a side elevation of a bottle with the invention in place thereon,

FIG. 2 is an enlarged transverse section of the top of the bottle and the cap,

FIGURE 3 is a plan of the friction member,

FIG. 4 is a plan of a modified form of friction member, and

FIG. 5 is an exploded sectional view of the invention.

It is to be clear in the following description that this is not made for the purpose of limiting the invention, the scope of which is defined in the claims herein.

A bottle 1 has on its neck 2 a usual screw thread 3 which is engaged by an internal thread in the cap 4, this cap if desired being a standard cap as applied to a bottle at the present time and being formed of metal or plastic or any other suitable material, a sealing pad 5 being interposed between the inner face of the cap 4 and the upper lip 6 of the neck of the bottle.

Disposed over the outside of the cap 4 is a loose sleeve 7 which in the form shown comprises an outer rim 8 having a top closure 9 and a lower annular rim 10. The term sleeve is used as obviously it does not require a complete top closure 8 in all cases, although this is a preferred form.

The sleeve 7 is a loose fit over the cap 4 and can be formed of plastic or the like so as to have suflicient resiliency to allow the annular rim 10 to push over the outside of the cap 4 to eventually contract into the space between the lower lip 11 of the cap 4 and the usual rim 12 formed of a bottle neck just below the screw thread 3.

A friction pad 13 is interposed between the underside of the top 9 of the sleeve 7 and the top surface 14 of the cap 4 but, as will be seen from the illustration, a small gap 15 is left between the lower lip 11 of the cap 4 and the annular rim 10 so that no force is applied between the top 9 of the sleeve 7 and the upper surface 14 of the cap 4 by the friction pad 13.

In operation then this sleeve 7 will be freely rotatable on the cap 4, but by inserting a downward pressure on to the top 9 of the sleeve 7 drive can be applied through the friction pad 13 to the top 14 of the cap 4, and this will then cause the cap 4 to move with the sleeve 7, thus allowing the cap 4 to be screwed and unscrewed provided this force is applied.

It will be realised of course that the type of friction pad can vary but a convenient shape is to have a disc of rubber or plastic or the like which will give the necessary friction characteristics, or felt or the like could be used if this was preferred, but according to the form shown in FIG. 4 the surface of the disc has a pattern of projections or indentations 16 in it to increase grip, while in FIG. 5 the friction surfaces 17 are shown as roughened and the friction pad 18 is shown as varying in thickness for better gripping characteristics.

The underside of the top 9 of the sleeve 7 could similarly be roughened if this was desirable, and also the top surface 14 of the cap 4, but it will be realised that the shape of the friction pad surface will depend on the amount of drive required to adequately tighten the cap by pressure applied to the loose sleeve.

The friction surface could of course be provided between the rim 8 of the sleeve 7 and the outside of the cap 4 by allowing this rim to be distorted on to the outside of the cap 4, and obviously means of this type will be within the spirit of this invention which utilises a friction drive between a sleeve 7 and the cap 4 irrespective of whether the friction surfaces are formed directly between the sleeve 7 and cap 4 or by means of an interposed friction member.

The advantages of a friction drive are as said that the cap can be of normal construction and that the invention can therefore be applied as an auxiliary to existing bottles because it would be possible to mould or otherwise form the sleeve in such a manner that it could simply be pushed over the cap and would then spring into position to act as a safety device, the sleeve for this purpose being in the nature of a peripheral member fitting loosely around the cap having a closed top which can itself be distortable or can include means on its underside which can be compressed to form the necessary friction means or a separate member can simply be utilised between the top of the cap and the inside of the top of the sleeve, the lower marginal edge of this sleeve preferably being inturned but of such a nature that it can be forced over the cap and will simply then engage the underside of the cap to prevent withdtrawal of the sleeve from the cap, or the peripheral lower edge can be provided with tongues or the like which can simply be bent into position to engage the underside of the cap after the device has been positioned.

It will be realised that the friction members can comprise sponge rubber or the like which will normally allow the sleeve to rotate on the cap Without giving any drive but when the necessary downward pressure is exerted the amount of friction will be increased and if suflicient downward pressure is given at the same time it will naturally cause the cap to turn with the sleeve to allow it to be unscrewed and also the reverse action will be allowed in that by downward pressure the cap can be screwed tightly on to the bottle.

The shape of the friction pad can be varied and it could for instance be thicker at the centre than at the edges so that the centre part formed as it were spring means to keep the edges of the friction member from contacting either the top of the bottle cap or the underside of the sleeve so that under these conditions drive of the cap is impossible and only when the centre part is compressed by the axial pressure on the sleeve can the edges engage to allow suflicient friction to be obtained to unscrew the cap.

It will be realised from the foregoing that a very much simplified device results which does not need any modification of the cap, although this can of course be altered if that is desired, the device operating purely by friction without having the positive interengaging detents or the like envisaged in the earlier application.

As said the shape of the friction member or the interengaging members can be widely varied but as said in all cases it will be such that axial movement must be applied to the sleeve to cause frictional engagement with the cap of a sufficient value to allow the sleeve to carry the cap with it either during the unscrewing or the tightening procedures.

Such a device will be safe against the action of a child because the two pressures are necessary, one being the unscrewing pressure and the other friction producing pressure and it should be realised that this particular feature is the important part of this invention which as said allows standard bottle caps to be used which can simply have a sleeve placed over them in such a manner that normally the sleeve will rotate freely on the cap but when the necessary pressure is applied to introduce the frictional drive between the sleeve and the cap, the cap can be manipulated with the sleeve.

While one complete embodiment of the invention has been disclosed herein, it will be appreciated that modification of this particular embodiment of the invention may be resorted to without departing from the scope of the invention as defined in the appended claims.

What I claim is:

1. A safety cap for bottles having a screw cap on a threaded neck, characterized by a loose sleeve over the said cap which frictionally drives the said cap only when pressure is applied to the said sleeve to force it toward the said cap,

said sleeve comprising a rim closed at one end by a closure member and having at the other end an inturned annular rim and being formed of a distortable material whereby the sleeve can be pushed over an existing bottle cap to be axially confined thereon by the annular rim but to be free to rotate on the bottle cap excepting when a force is applied to the sleeve to frictionaly force it on to the cap to rotate the cap, and

a friction pad interposed between the under surface of the top of the sleeve and the outer surface of the top of the cap whereby when axial pressure is applied to the sleeve to force the sleeve on to the friction pad and the friction pad on to the cap the required drive for rotating the cap is applied between the sleeve and the cap through the friction pad.

2. A safety cap for bottles according to claim 1 wherein the friction pad is shaped to increase the frictional grip.

3. A safety cap for bottles according to claim 1 wherein the friction surfaces are roughened to increase grip.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,717,708 9/1955 Martinez 215--43 2,776,066 1/1957 Thornton 215-9 3,027,035 3/1962 Farago 215-9 WILLIAM T. DIXSON, JR., Primary Examiner.

US. Cl. X.R. 215-43 

1. A SAFETY CAP FOR BOTTLES HAVING A SCREW CAP ON A THREADED NECK, CHARACTERIZED BY A LOOSE SLEEVE OVER THE SAID CAP WHICH FRICTIONALLY DRIVES THE SAID CAP ONLY WHEN PRESSURE IS APPLIED TO THE SAID SLEEVE TO FORCE IT TOWARD THE SAID CAP, SAID SLEEVE COMPRISING A RIM CLOSED AT ONE END BY A CLOSURE MEMBER AND HAVING AT THE OTHER END AN INTURNED ANNULAR RIM AND BEING FORMED OF A DISTORTABLE MATERIAL WHEREBY THE SLEEVE CAN BE PUSHED OVER AN EXISTING BOTTLE CAP TO BE AXIALLY CONFINED THEREON BY THE ANNULAR RIM BUT TO BE FREE TO ROTATE ON THE BOTTLE CAP EXCEPTING WHEN A FORCE IS APPLIED TO THE SLEEVE TO FRICTIONALY FORCE IT ON THE CAP TO ROTATE THE CAP, AND A FRICTION PAD INTERPOSED BETWEEN THE UNDER SURFACE OF THE TOP OF THE SLEEVE AND THE OUTER SURFACE OF THE TOP OF THE CAP WHEREBY WHEN AXIAL PRESSURE IS APPLIED TO THE SLEEVE TO FORCE THE SLEEVE ON TO THE FRICTION PAD AND THE FRICTION PAD ON THE CAP THE REQUIRED DRIVE FOR ROTATING THE CAP IS APPLIED BETWEEN THE SLEEVE AND THE CAP THROUGH THE FRICTION PAD. 